History of Dance

History of Dance

Dancing has always been a part of the human condition, since early times, when archaic humans roamed the Earth. In the beginning, dancing is believed to have been a part of a mating ritual. As things evolved and societies and civilizations became more complex, dancing became a part of other sorts of rituals, besides mating purposes, such as religious or superstitious rituals and celebrations, such as marital unions, births, coming of age, harvest periods, etc.

Some of these superstitious rituals performed by people had to do with celebrating or “praying” to the gods or mother nature for any number of reasons, such as fertility (of the soil or human beings), the impediment of natural disasters or climatic phenomena such as floods or bad weather conditions that could affect the fate of the population due to the decay or perish of plantations, crops, etc.

Many could argue that to this day, dancing is still a part of a mating ritual, in certain contexts, such as clubs, parties, social dances and many more, in the way that they help people socialize in a more primitive way that may not involve talking and using one’s intellect or rational behavior.

Rather, when dancing, humans are probably in touch with their primitive, animalistic selves more than in many other contexts or situations. In the same way, one could argue that many aspects of those ritualistic celebrations related to dancing could also have affected the way people make use of their bodies for dancing today. For example, people still dance at social events or celebrations, such as birthdays, weddings, various social gatherings, and in some cultures, even funerals. It is not difficult to see how intimately connected dancing at raves or dance events and clubs is to those ancient, tribal customs of ancestors.